Innocence Project works to exonerate falsely imprisoned

In the summer of 1993, the Innocence Project received a letter from Steven Barnes' mother, Sylvia Bouchard.

Dan Miner

In the summer of 1993, the Innocence Project received a letter from Steven Barnes' mother, Sylvia Bouchard.

Barnes, of Marcy, N.Y., was serving a 25-year-to-life sentence after he was convicted in 1989 for the 1985 rape and murder of 16-year old Kimberly Simon of Marcy.

The letter said Barnes was innocent. It asked for help.

Today, more than 15 years after his mother first contacted the Innocence Project, Barnes should finally be granted his freedom.

The handcuffs he wore to Oneida County Court for a proceeding Monday will be removed. And his family is expected to be waiting in the courtroom.

A news conference with local officials and Innocence Project staff - including co-founder and O.J. Simpson attorney Barry Scheck - is expected immediately after the court hearing. Details of DNA tests also will be discussed.

But today's news was not easily attained.

The Innocence Project, an independent non-profit group with 45 employees, was founded in 1992 by Scheck and Peter Neufeld. The group seeks to exonerate prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing, according to its Web site.

The group receives about 250 letters per month from potential new clients - most of them coming from inmates or relatives, spokesman Eric Ferrero said. Staff puts cases through a rigorous evaluation process to determine whether DNA could prove innocence.

The Innocence Project first reviewed Barnes' case and accepted it in 1993, Ferrero said. It remained open for four years until 1997, when results could not be obtained using DNA testing.

The Innocence Project then closed the case. And Barnes remained in jail.

Seven years went by before several events led to renewed interest in the case in the summer of 2004, Ferrero said. An Innocence Project staff member met Barnes' brother at an event in Boston, and Barnes' mother wrote another letter.

The second letter was similar to the first. It asked: Will you help?

The Innocence Project again began looking into the case. In the summer of 2007, they formally took on Barnes as a client again. New DNA testing was done at Orchid-Cellmark, which has labs in New Jersey and Texas.

The Innocence Project paid $20,000 for the tests.

On Friday, the last result came in, Ferrero said. He declined to divulge specifics of the tests, saying those questions would be answered at today's news conference.

The Innocence Project is based at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York City and has helped at least 225 people in the United States be exonerated, including 17 who served time on death row.

“A small fraction of them actually become clients,” Ferrero said.

The project usually handles about 250 to 300 active cases, he said. At any given time, it's also evaluating between 6,000 and 10,000 cases.

The group spent about $4.2 million spent in 2007.

All of its work is pro bono, Ferrero said.

The Innocence Project receives its money through contributions from foundations, individuals and the Cardozo law school.

Market Place

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA ~ 33 New York Ave., Framingham, MA 01701 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service